


Hey, That Was Crazy

by guava



Series: Random Play Discography [9]
Category: SF9 (Band)
Genre: Barebacking, Dirty Talk, Fluff, Fluff and Smut, M/M, Masturbation, NSFW only in Chapter 1 and 2 and 3, POV Outsider, Rimming, Somnophilia, Waxing, Webcam/Video Chat Sex, mentions of coronavirus
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-04
Updated: 2020-10-04
Packaged: 2021-03-07 20:35:28
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 11,621
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26813740
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/guava/pseuds/guava
Summary: In each other, Youngbin and Inseong find a person to lean on and little surprises that expand their world for two.(Flash fiction loosely inspired by the tracklist/era ofFirst Collection.)
Relationships: Kim Inseong/Kim Youngbin
Series: Random Play Discography [9]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1507721
Comments: 12
Kudos: 12





	1. Good Guy

It was only the beginning of the year yet Inseong felt as if he had received all his birthday presents. A month after their group won first place on a music show for the first time, Inseong found himself in a hotel room, watching Youngbin strip down to a pair of white silk boxers covered with red roses. 

Inseong had gotten the fancy lingerie as a free gift from the Calvin Klein event that he attended in New York with Seokwoo. When he unfolded the boxers, he knew they were designed not just for physical comfort, but also for inviting admiration. He had given them to Youngbin with the promise of doing lots of admiring when they could celebrate in private the blessings that rolled in with the new year. 

Since the fancy boxers were on Youngbin, Inseong should be doing more of the admiring. But Youngbin wouldn't let him. After modeling Inseong's gift, he pounced on Inseong, kissing him on the bed while unbuttoning Inseong's shirt. No matter how much Inseong wished his clothes would just disappear, that wouldn't happen, and so he struggled to multi-task between tasting Youngbin's soft lips and getting out of his clothes. 

When Inseong was down to his boxer-briefs, Youngbin drew back to sit on his heels. 

"I have another surprise for you," Youngbin announced. 

Pulling down the waistband of the boxers, he exposed the skin below his belly which had become totally smooth and without a hint of the dark curls that Inseong was familiar with. Inseong widened his eyes and if his life was a cartoon, his eyeballs would have popped out of their sockets. 

In a voice that sounded more shrill than his own, Inseong went, "What did you do!?" 

He tugged at the front of Youngbin's boxers to see that Youngbin was also smooth further down. As if disbelieving what he was seeing, he stroked his fingers over Youngbin's skin and noted the absence of stubble. Youngbin must have removed his pubic hair recently as it didn't seem like the strands had started growing back. 

Resting his arm on Inseong's shoulder, Youngbin stroked Inseong's back. 

"I wanted to prepare a surprise in return for the boxers," he said. "Do you like it? It's fine if you don't." 

"I--" Inseong gulped, unsure of what to say or even think. "Can you tell me why you think I'd like it?" 

"Well..." Youngbin fidgeted as he chose his next words. "You like to put your mouth _there_ , so I thought you'd like it if the hair doesn't get in the way. And I think the final result looks nice." 

"It does," Inseong admitted. "Where did you get this done?" 

"Our usual beauty salon. Did you know that they offer Brazilian waxes for both male and female customers?" 

Inseong nodded, knowing all along that their salon offered that unusual and rather extreme beauty service. He had even cracked a joke about getting himself waxed to score a CF deal for sexy swimwear, but had never thought that anyone he knew would go through with it. 

As Youngbin leaned in for another kiss, Inseong dug his fingers into the small of Youngbin's back, stopping him. He had to find out what Youngbin went through at the salon. 

"Did it hurt? What did you tell the staff?" He asked. 

"Do we have to talk about it now, when that's around?" 

Youngbin reached out to put his hand on _that_ \--Inseong's cock, which was getting hard and straining against the front of Inseong's underwear.

" _That_ won't be going anywhere," Inseong pointed out, pushing Youngbin's hand away as he laced their fingers together. "Quick, tell me." 

"Fine. It only hurts when the hair is being ripped off, but the pain is over really quickly. And I told the staff that I wanted to build up my courage for fulfilling our first win promise by doing something as scary as bungee jumping." 

"But it wasn't as scary as you thought, right?" 

"Right," Youngbin replied. "You should try it too." 

"Me!?" 

Inseong was taken aback at Youngbin's suggestion for him to do the same. Smirking, Youngbin brought his lips to the side of Inseong's neck and kissed his way up to Inseong's ear. 

"You know that the staff of our salon are all professionals," Youngbin said, his breath hot against the shell of Inseong's ear. "You can trust them. Or is our Inseongie afraid of pain?" 

"N-No," Inseong said, wincing at how unconvincing he sounded. 

"Is that a lie? Like your goal about scoring a swimwear CF?" 

Inseong had to come up with a strong defense, fast. "I know that the 'Boyzilian' is the salon's most expensive treatment. What other benefits does it bring, aside from the visual?" 

"You'll become more sensitive too, in the front and back." 

Youngbin brought their joined hands to the top of his boxers. After letting go of Youngbin, Inseong dipped his hand under the boxers' waistband. He reached further down, discovering that Youngbin's balls were as hairless and smooth as Youngbin's crotch. 

Inseong swallowed and tried to hide his amazement at what Youngbin had done. 

"I want to look at all of this. Take it off," Inseong demanded, tugging lightly at the side of the rose boxers. 

Youngbin nodded and got off the bed to let the boxers fall onto the floor. When he returned to straddle Inseong's thighs, he allowed Inseong to stroke the back of his ass and between his legs and trembled against Inseong's touches.

"Would you say that you're so sensitive that I can make you come just by touching you here--"--Inseong drew his fingers over Youngbin's crotch and balls--"without touching you here?" 

He squeezed around Youngbin's cock once, taking his hand away before Youngbin could thrust against his palm. 

After taking a deep breath, Youngbin said, "Maybe, if you also touch one more place." 

"Here?" Inseong asked, bringing his fingers to the rim of Youngbin's hole. 

Youngbin bit his lower lip and gave Inseong a little nod. Thinking that Youngbin had no right to be so cute and sexy, Inseong drew his hand from between Youngbin's legs to loop his arm around Youngbin's waist and pull Youngbin towards him. When their lips met, Youngbin moaned against Inseong's mouth and rested his hands on Inseong's shoulders as he pulled away. 

"Wait," Youngbin said. "How about we play a game?" 

"A game?" 

"Yeah. If you can make me come without touching my cock, I'll let you off the hook about the boyzilian. But if you can't, I'll take you to the salon and treat you to one with my own money." 

"Hmm..." Inseong kneaded the cheeks of Youngbin's ass as he calculated his chances of winning. "You'd want me to win, right?" 

"That depends on how good you are," Youngbin replied. 

With the glimmer in his eyes, he gave Inseong permission to be as bad--the naughty kind of bad--as Inseong wanted. 

Curling his hand around the back of Youngbin's neck, Inseong pulled Youngbin down for another kiss. He had to give his all since his pride (and his pubes) were on the line. After he laid Youngbin down on the bed, he got up to fetch the tube of lubricant from his suitcase and forced himself to tear his eyes away from Youngbin. 

The visual of Youngbin being smooth all over was too delectable and even the few seconds that Inseong spent looking away from Youngbin was aggravating. When Inseong turned back to him, he saw Youngbin slotting a pillow under his hips to better show off the parts that had been waxed. 

Once Inseong kneeled between Youngbin's legs with the lubricant in his hand, he said, "Thank you. Where do you want me to put my mouth on first?" 

"Anywhere you like," Youngbin replied. 

Inseong began with laying kisses over the expanse of skin under the jut of Youngbin's hipbone, holding loosely the base of Youngbin's cock to keep it out of the way. Breathing in, he let the fresh smell of Youngbin's body lotion flavour the hunger that had settled deep in his belly. Moving downwards, Inseong found the musk from Youngbin's unique scent to be stronger around Youngbin's balls as he inhaled and sucked on one of them. 

He got a kick out of seeing Youngbin twisting his fingers into the sheets, tensing with the effort of keeping his legs open. With his tongue, Inseong traced the divide between Youngbin's balls before putting his mouth to Youngbin's other testicle. He treated both Youngbin's balls with an equal amount of attention and tenderness that was just a drop of his overflowing love for Youngbin. 

For him, Youngbin moaned and writhed as he thrust back against Inseong's mouth, not holding back like what he sometimes did when Inseong sucked his cock and he worried about choking Inseong. Youngbin never took Inseong's bedroom skills for granted and when Inseong proved that he had new tricks up his sleeve, Youngbin would prepare his own tricks like unveiling his boyzilian. 

When Inseong brought his lips just below Youngbin's balls and above Youngbin's hole, he heard Youngbin gasp, "Inseong-ah..." 

"Yes?" Inseong replied, aware that his breath was warming Youngbin's hole. 

"Do you need me to touch you?"

Inseong brushed his hand over the bulge straining the front of his boxer-briefs. He trembled at his own touch and knew he would lose control if he let Youngbin touch him instead. 

"I'm fine," he said. "I'd rather play with you some more." 

"Oh, yes..." 

Pressing his fingertip flat against Youngbin's hole, Inseong asked, "Can I also kiss you here?" 

"There?" Youngbin raised himself on his elbows to meet Inseong's eyes and gulped when Inseong directed a look of pure lust at him. "I knew you'd want to do that..." 

Inseong smiled at the thought of Youngbin thinking about him kissing his hole. "Oh yeah? How did you think I would do it?" 

"Like this." Youngbin turned over to lie on his front. "With me lying facedown so I can focus on feeling you, without knowing what you'll do next."

"Very good." 

Along with his praise, Inseong rested his hand above Youngbin's ass and traced his fingers down its divide, stopping at Youngbin's hole. 

He pressed harder, getting Youngbin to spread his legs even wider. "But I think you know what I'll do next. What do you think I'm going to do now?" 

"You said it yourself, you're going to kiss me...there..." 

"Nope. I'm going to take a good look." 

Inseong bared Youngbin's hole to the light, prising apart the cheeks of Youngbin's ass with both hands. He kneaded his fingers into both cheeks and after warming Youngbin up with the brief massage, he swooped down for his first taste. 

"Mmh!"

Inseong dug into Youngbin again with another lick over Youngbin's hole. To get Youngbin used to his mouth there, he put his lips over the rim and sucked. As he licked into Youngbin, he felt like he was really drinking from the cup of victory as Youngbin filled the room with his drawn out moans. He paused after a while and when Youngbin whimpered at the return of the cool air between his ass cheeks, Inseong drew the tip of his tongue over Youngbin's hole to see it twitch for him. 

Nipping his teeth on the curve of Youngbin's ass, Inseong asked, "Youngbin-ah, did you get this part waxed too?" 

"Yeah," Youngbin replied as he looked over his shoulder. 

When he took one look at Inseong's lips that were reddened from kissing his hole, he whipped his head back to the front. Inseong smirked and gave Youngbin a reward for being so adorable--another warm, wet kiss on Youngbin's hole. 

Pulling back, Inseong asked again, "You got this waxed even if there wasn't much hair?" 

"Mmm...yeah..." 

"I've got to make your suffering worth it," Inseong declared. 

His kisses had left behind a good amount of spit in and around Youngbin's hole. Inseong gathered some on his fingertip, getting it wet before pushing his finger into Youngbin. He pulled it out to replace it with his tongue, thrusting into Youngbin's loosened hole as Youngbin trembled and rocked back against his mouth again. 

"Your fingers...your tongue..." Youngbin babbled. "Your mouth..." 

"I know," Inseong said. 

He was so hard that his erection was starting to hurt, but he was too caught up in unravelling Youngbin to care. 

He really wanted to win their game. Pulling Youngbin's hips back, he kept Youngbin from pressing his cock against the pillow that he was lying on. While Youngbin might have forgotten what they were competing for, Inseong still had his eyes on the prize of getting Youngbin to come untouched. 

He didn't take long to slick his fingers with lubricant and stretch Youngbin open. As he dug his fingers deep inside, the sheets right under Youngbin became damp with the pre-come dripping from Youngbin's cock. It was as if Youngbin had already come, but Inseong knew that wasn't the case as Youngbin continued to moan and beg for Inseong's cock. 

At last, Inseong stripped off his underwear. He shuddered when he applied lube all over his bare length, keeping his touch light so he wouldn't accidentally make himself come. Turning back to the divide of Youngbin's ass that was shining with spit and lube, he couldn't resist swiping his tongue over Youngbin's wet hole once more. The lube didn't taste like anything and smelled a little like shampoo. 

In a breathy voice, Youngbin said, "Don't taste the lube. I don't want you to get sick." 

"Okay," Inseong said and pressed a kiss to the back of Youngbin's thigh. "It's a pity that I have to stop eating you out. Any other request?" 

Youngbin didn't say anything. He would have said 'no' or shook his head if he only wanted Inseong to continue. As Inseong raised Youngbin by his hips to his hands and knees, he waited for Youngbin to speak.

"I lose," Youngbin said. "I can't take it anymore. I want to finish with your hand on me." 

While Inseong was pleased that Youngbin did remember their game, he wanted to tease Youngbin a little more. 

Stroking the smooth skin above Youngbin's cock, he asked, "You sure?" 

"Yes. You can...no, I want..I _need_ you to touch my cock." 

For Youngbin's excellent choice of words, Inseong stopped his teasing and slid his cock into Youngbin with one long thrust. He groaned and scrunched his eyes shut, nearly finding release from the heat and tightness inside Youngbin. As he tried to regain control, he gave the touches that Youngbin needed, curling his fingers around Youngbin's cock and feeling its wet slide against his palm. 

He could come just from letting Youngbin tighten around him as he stroked Youngbin off. But Youngbin deserved more. With shallow thrusts, Inseong found Youngbin's prostate and held Youngbin's cock as Youngbin leaked onto his fingers. He pressed his cock against Youngbin's prostate until Youngbin bowed his head and his shoulders shook, then switched to thrusting hard and fast and shaking the bed. 

As he slammed into Youngbin, he kept his hands busy, alternating between stroking Youngbin's cock and petting Youngbin's smooth crotch. The novelty of its smoothness would end as the hair grew back, but Inseong would never forget that Youngbin had taken pains to surprise him. Even if Youngbin never surprised him again, Inseong would never get tired of Youngbin's sweet self. 

With his last shred of control, he got the timing just right for both of them to climax at nearly the same time. He held fast onto Youngbin's hips as he came inside Youngbin, holding back from cheering and pumping his fist in the air to maintain the romantic atmosphere for a while longer. 

Once he was soft, he pulled out and collapsed beside Youngbin. They could only pant at first and soon recovered enough to smile at each other, sharing their triumph and amazement over what they had just done. 

When Inseong rose to head to the bathroom, Youngbin did the same. 

"Come on, I'll carry you," Inseong said, holding out his arms. "I don't think you can walk after that pounding." 

The first stage went well with Inseong scooping Youngbin up and Youngbin looping his arms around Inseong's neck. But taking the steps towards their destination was much more challenging and at the entrance to the bathroom, Inseong practically dropped Youngbin onto the marble tiles. 

Youngbin just laughed, getting to his feet and leaning against the sink as Inseong doubled over and caught his breath. 

Standing straight, Inseong rested his hand against his lower back and insisted, "That's no big deal. You're as light as a little bunny." 

While Inseong brushed his teeth, Youngbin pulled up the sink's tap to run hot water onto a towel. Then he brought the towel between his legs, cleaning Inseong's come out of his hole. 

After spitting out his toothpaste, Inseong said, "I could have done that for you." 

"I know," Youngbin replied as he rubbed the towel in and around his hole. "But if I let you do that, I might get turned on all over again. And I think I'm too sore to go for another round." 

Imagining how red and loose Youngbin's hole had gotten, Inseong tried not to choke as he gargled some water. 

When his mouth was clean, he pressed it on Youngbin's lips for a deep kiss. As Youngbin closed his eyes and kissed him back, Inseong sneaked his hand between Youngbin's legs to brush his fingers over Youngbin's hole through the towel. Youngbin trembled and if Inseong had not held onto his waist, he would have sank onto the floor. 

"Yeah, I should give you a break," Inseong said. "Let me carry you back. It won't be dangerous to drop you on the bed." 

"Are you trying to be my prince?" Youngbin said, teasing him. 

But he still put his arms back around Inseong's neck and his lips against Inseong's cheek, trusting Inseong to be strong for him. 


	2. Am I The Only One

In Inseong's room, Youngbin woke up and had to think hard on why he had come over. He sat upright to admire his beloved's sleeping face, remembering that Inseong had not looked as cute and innocent when he, Sanghyuk and Taeyang had imitated Youngbin's mannerisms on Sanghyuk's weekly BingBang broadcast. For making fun of him, Youngbin had resolved to make Inseong pay (in bed), but had fallen asleep with his face planted in Inseong's pillow. 

Just from watching the rhythmic rise and fall of Inseong's chest as Inseong breathed, Youngbin was at peace. He had not really been mad at Inseong, just annoyed and curious to see if he could keep Inseong's mischief under control. Perhaps he had punished Inseong enough in stealing Inseong's side of the bed for one night. 

Just as he reached out to stroke Inseong's hair, he heard Inseong murmur, "Hyung..." 

Youngbin froze, curled his fingers inwards and retracted his hand. 

Inseong's eyes were still closed. While his body was lying beside Youngbin, his mind was far away in who knows where with whoever his 'hyung' was. 

"Hyung..." Inseong continued his sleeptalking. "You're so bad..." 

Youngbin held back from saying out loud to Inseong, 'You're so bad.' 

Since Inseong was a few months older than him, Youngbin was certainly not the older man in Inseong's dream. He itched to shake Inseong awake and demand an answer on the identity of Inseong's hyung. Instead, he ran through a mental list of the attractive older men in Inseong's life. Could Inseong be dreaming of one of their seniors from their company? Or one of the regular panelists from Problematic Men? Or had Inseong found himself back on the stage for We K-Pop, playing a naughtier version of the Pepero game with his co-host and senior Nichkhun? 

Any one of those hyungs were impressive, far more impressive than Youngbin. Youngbin could accept Inseong being attracted to one or more of them in his subconscious. There was also no harm in Inseong acting on his attraction in his dreams as he remained loyal to Youngbin in real life. 

Still, as Inseong called out to his hyung again, Youngbin found himself feeling competitive. Before getting ready for his day, he should do what 'hyung' couldn't and remind Inseong why Inseong should stick with his same-age friend. 

As Youngbin pulled down the blanket, he took in the entire length of Inseong's gorgeous long legs. They remained bare as Inseong had gone to bed last night with just his shirt and a pair of sky blue boxer-briefs on. When Youngbin rested his hand on Inseong's thigh, Inseong stirred but did not open his eyes. He stayed asleep even as Youngbin spread his fingers out to stroke Inseong's soft skin. 

"It's too big, hyung," Inseong murmured. 

Clamping his fingers around Inseong's inner thigh, Youngbin got a gasp out of Inseong. Like the man in Inseong's dream, he was going to show no mercy to Inseong. It seemed he had to do a lot more to tear Inseong away from his hyung. 

After Youngbin lifted his hand from Inseong's thigh, he put his lips to where his fingers had been. He kissed further up, and up again, until he reached the leg opening of Inseong's underwear. He was tempted to graze his teeth against Inseong's skin and shock Inseong awake, but then he would miss out on hearing the rest of Inseong's suggestive sleeptalking. 

A moan spilled from between Inseong's lips. "No, hyung, it's too hard..." 

Youngbin stared sideways and lifted his eyebrow as if Inseong had opened his eyes and could see what Youngbin was doing. Whatever was going on in Inseong's dream had definitely taken an erotic turn. Of course, Inseong had the right to frolic in his own subconscious, where he could fling himself at anyone he liked and do what would be impractical and unwise in real life. 

Youngbin still wanted to remind Inseong that being by his side in real life was better. Leaning over Inseong's side, he pressed his mouth to the front of Inseong's underwear, right over the slight bulge of Inseong's morning wood. Wetness seeped from its tip and through the cloth, staining the light blue material. 

With a few more kisses from Youngbin, the stain grew larger as Inseong leaked more pre-come. Youngbin lifted his head and licked his lips, admiring his handiwork. He could hear Inseong's breathing quicken as Inseong brought his thighs closer together, perhaps to ease some of his arousal from getting hard.

As Inseong started to turn on his side, Youngbin imagined him pushing his hips and cock into the mattress and stopped him with his hand on Inseong's thigh. Gently, he pushed Inseong's leg back down and turned back to Inseong's hard-on. He had caused it, and so he was responsible for taking care of it. 

Opening his mouth, he wrapped his lips around the tip of Inseong's erection that had created a tent in Inseong's underwear. He sucked at the cotton stained with salty pre-come, feeling his own cock twitch as Inseong moaned because of his mouth. 

The morning was getting late and Youngbin doubted that he could let Inseong return the favour and lie together with him afterwards. It was no problem for Youngbin to take care of himself before leaving for work, but before then, he wanted to do his best to give Inseong a memorable wake-up call. 

After tugging down the waistband of Inseong's underwear, he let it rest against the back of Inseong's balls as he exhaled warm breath on Inseong's cock. 

When he lapped on a drop of pre-come trickling down, Inseong cried out, "Hyung!" 

Youngbin drew back. His urge to punish Inseong had returned. Perhaps he should stop there and leave Inseong hard and desperate so that Inseong would dream of him. He looked at Inseong's sleeping face once again, shifting his knees against the bedsheet. 

At the slight rustle that followed, Inseong shot his arm out to seize Youngbin's wrist. Youngbin thought Inseong was finally awake but when Youngbin stopped moving, Inseong released him and let his arm lie slack on the bed. Without opening his eyes, Inseong scrunched up his nose and parted his lips as he breathed out. 

Whether Inseong was faking sleep or not, Youngbin would find out. He put his lips back on Inseong's cock, first just kissing the tip before taking it into his mouth. He sucked lightly, then harder to hear Inseong's harsh breathing fill the room. 

"Oh, I need you, please..." 

Youngbin shut his eyes and took in more of Inseong's cock, not bothering to check whether Inseong was still dreaming. Inseong had not called out to his hyung, which was good enough for Youngbin. He drew the line at letting Inseong come down his throat while Inseong thought about someone else. 

As Youngbin continued to suck, Inseong placed his palm against the back of Youngbin's hand. He really liked covering Youngbin's hand with his own, holding onto Youngbin as he let himself go. 

Youngbin was just too fond of Inseong to be mean. Saving his delightful punishment for Inseong for another day, he worked his jaw and stroked the underside of Inseong's cock until Inseong came. As he swallowed Inseong's come, keeping the sheets clean, he leaned into Inseong's grip around his hand. 

When he was done, he released Inseong's soft cock from his mouth and tucked him back into his underwear. He caught Inseong blinking and rubbing at the crust in the corner of his eyes, and just when Inseong tried to sit upright, Youngbin pulled the blanket over him. 

"Morning," Youngbin said. "You can sleep for a while longer, but I have to go." 

"Mmm..." Though Inseong was already half-asleep, he squinted at Youngbin. "Your beard is gone." 

"I never had one," Youngbin replied. 

It wasn't as if Youngbin had a beard when they last met. They were still in the middle of their promotions and even if they weren't, the company had forbidden them from growing facial hair. But instead of reminding Inseong, Youngbin just accepted the mysterious workings of Inseong's unique mind as he brushed Inseong's fringe aside to kiss Inseong's forehead. 

Taking his backpack with his change of clean clothes with him, Youngbin headed for the shower. There, he took care of his erection with hot water pounding on his skin and the memory of Inseong's climax fresh in his mind. He came fast and hard, imagining the fingers on his cock to be Inseong's long, delicate fingers that he loved having on and inside him. 

When he was leaving, he found Sanghyuk lingering at the doorway of his room with his arms crossed like he had been waiting for Youngbin. 

"So it's just you, hyung," Sanghyuk said. "I was shivering, thinking there was another hyung in the next room." 

"There isn't. If you've heard anything that you want to forget, I'll make it up to you." 

As Youngbin rushed to kiss Sanghyuk's ear, Sanghyuk yelped, "Don't kiss me with lips that--" 

But it was too late. 

For breakfast, Inseong took two rolls of kimbap from the fridge--one for himself and one for Sanghyuk, to appease him after he grumbled about the 'noises' coming from Inseong's room. 

As they went into Sanghyuk's room, which had previously also been Inseong's room, Inseong munched on his kimbap and launched into his explanation about what happened that morning. "I had another bad dream about enlistment. So after being too good in basic training, I was recruited by a hot NIS agent who, get this, was basically Youngbin with a full beard! And he made me call him 'hyung'! Can you believe it?" 

"About you being a good soldier or about our leader looking hot with a beard?" 

Ignoring Sanghyuk's sarcasm, Inseong continued, "He looked really handsome with that beard, so handsome that I didn't want to wake up and leave him. But then he forced me to learn how to shoot this big bazooka, which was super hard. I wonder if that means--" 

"NO! The big bazooka doesn't mean anything!" 

Holding his kimbap between his teeth, Sanghyuk shoved Inseong out of the room and slammed the door shut. 

Inseong shrugged and finished the rest of his breakfast before flopping back down on his bed. Lying on his stomach, he sighed at the unfairness of having to return to a world where Youngbin was not allowed to grow and keep a manly beard. 


	3. Shh

One of the most telling symptoms for Coronavirus was the lack of taste. The steaming mug of matcha green tea for Youngbin--bought by Inseong and brewed by Taeyang--was a test for Youngbin's tongue and whether his common cold was a sign of impending doom. Bringing the mug to his lips, Youngbin sniffled and breathed in the warm vapours. 

He took a sip, then another. He could put the mug down with relief as the tea didn't taste bland at all. It was as bitter as it would be if cafes didn't serve it with sugar and cream. After blowing his nose with a piece of tissue, he could better appreciate the tea's fragrance as he picked the mug back up to finish the rest of his drink.

Once his mug was empty, he thought about what to do next in the room he was quarantined in--Taeyang's room. Taeyang had agreed to give up his room and move in with Jaeyoon for Youngbin to remain in isolation for five days. Day 2 was nearly over and though Youngbin still had lots of medicine left, he was feeling a lot better thanks to his members' care for him. 

He wanted to sleep off the headache from his stuffed nose. Yet when he rested his head on his pillow, a wave of restlessness kept him from falling asleep. Thoughts about the future ahead crowded his mind until he sat up and reached for his phone to distract himself. 

Just when he was about to share an article about the Spanish Flu in the group chat with his members, he stopped himself. He was just keeping himself more awake. He wished his medicine got him drowsy, but it didn't. 

Then there was his last resort for releasing his stress, one that called for privacy. While in isolation, privacy was what he had in abundance. Looking around at the walls and the closed door, he switched off the screen of his phone, placed it facedown on the bed and shoved his hand under the waistband of his pants. 

* * *

Not even halfway through, his phone rang with a video call from Inseong. 

Youngbin could not just give a missed call when he saw Inseong's name. After he picked up, he peered at the darkness that surrounded Inseong. As Inseong shifted from side to side, Youngbin caught the light coming from a desktop screen which told him that Inseong was in a private computer room. 

"Youngbin-ah, how are you feeling?" Inseong asked. "How was the tea?" 

"I'm a lot better. And the tea is bitter, thankfully," Youngbin reported. "Looks like I won't have to face the nose swab any time soon." 

"Stop! Don't think about the worst," Inseong insisted. "How are you spending your break? Have you been touching yourself?" 

"How did you--" 

As Inseong threw the question directly at him, Youngbin was caught off guard. He might have stopped himself from telling the whole truth, but he still had said enough to let Inseong know what he had been doing. 

His pulse quickened as Inseong gave him a wolfish grin. 

"I see. I see what you've done," Inseong drawled. "I was only joking around, but if I hadn't, you wouldn't have told me what you did, would you?" 

"Yeah..." 

Youngbin let his sheepishness give way to a nervous laugh. Inseong just smiled and shook his head with absolute fondness, as if he couldn't believe how cute Youngbin was. 

Still, he wouldn't let a chance to tease Youngbin slip out of his hands. 

"Hold on. I need to hear more about this." 

Inseong fetched his earphones and put them on, taking extra precaution so only he heard what Youngbin had to say.

He continued, "So, did you really do it? And were you thinking about me?" 

"I did...I was doing it while you called," Youngbin confessed. 

He watched Inseong grin again and braced himself as he added, "Will you be mad if I said I wasn't thinking about you?" 

"What!" 

Though Inseong's grin faded, Inseong sounded more shocked than outraged. 

"Sometimes I do think about you, but sometimes like today, I just want to let my body feel it and unwind without thinking about anything," Youngbin explained. "It's similar to exercising. I just train my muscles without thinking what they'd look like afterwards." 

"I see..." Inseong replied, nodding slightly. "But just having your body feel it won't be as good as what I can do for you." 

"Of course."

Then, afraid of putting unwise ideas in Inseong's head, Youngbin said, "Are you thinking about coming over to do it for me? Because we can't." 

"I know!" Inseong said with a laugh. "I won't ruin your quarantine and jump on your...anyway, there's another way I can do it for you, right here from where I am." 

"Do you mean..."

Lowering his voice, Inseong said, "Take your clothes off and I'll tell you what to do to yourself. Do only what I tell you to do." 

"You're..." Youngbin didn't know what else to say aside from pointing out the obvious. "You're already telling me what to do." 

On his chair, Inseong turned until his back was facing the light from the desktop. Youngbin imagined him sitting with his front towards the door and watching out for anyone who might barge in. In that position, no one could look over his shoulder to see what Youngbin was doing on his phone's screen. 

"You can trust me to not let anyone else see you," Inseong said. "But if you want to, you can also tell me to hang up and leave you alone." 

"Don't hang up." 

Youngbin placed his phone down and against his pillow, then scooted backwards on his bed so Inseong could see all of him. He knew that if he hung up, he'd just think about what Inseong would do if he hadn't. He would then most likely call Inseong back and let Inseong draw out his teasing in getting Youngbin to repeat what had been Inseong's original suggestion. Youngbin could see himself squirming and forming sentences with filthy words, leaking in his underwear until Inseong showed him some mercy. 

Instead of delaying his surrender, Youngbin took the plunge and lifted the hem of his shirt. He would stop if he became more scared than aroused, but his excitement only grew as he exposed more skin before Inseong's eyes. 

When he didn't have a stitch of clothing on him, he dropped both hands by either side of his open legs as he waited for Inseong's next command. 

Bringing his phone closer to him, Inseong said, "Mmm, nice. Now do what you did before I called." 

"Okay, here I go," Youngbin said, bringing his hand to his mouth. 

He licked his palm, getting it wet so he didn't have to use his lubricant. He was saving what remained in the tube for when he could be with Inseong in person. As he stroked his palm over his cock, he shuddered and resisted looking away from Inseong. 

"Yes, very good," Inseong said. "I didn't have to tell you to look at me. You know I want to see your beautiful face." 

As always, Youngbin felt his blood rush to his face at Inseong's compliment on his looks. Then he was hit with another itch in his nose and had to sneeze into his hands. He thought he had ruined the mood, but after wiping his nose with a tissue, he noticed that Inseong's heated gaze had not faltered one bit. 

Unsure how to smoothly continue his show for Inseong, he stalled as he squeezed the back of his neck and rubbed his hands over his bare chest. 

"You know," he said. "I feel like I'm doing an erotic broadcast."

"Yeah. Like an adult-rated special of BinUs for an audience of one," Inseong replied. "Are you cold? Maybe I shouldn't have asked you to take your clothes off when you're sick." 

"Don't worry, my fever has gone down since yesterday." 

After licking his hand again, Youngbin asked, "I'll touch myself again, okay?" 

"Okay. Pretend those are my fingers on you." 

Lightly brushing his fingers all around his length, Youngbin copied how Inseong liked to touch him. When both of them were not desperate to come, Inseong would not use much pressure from the get-go, only tightening his grip to draw out the moans and cries that escaped from Youngbin's throat.

"Please, let me go faster," Youngbin begged, pinching one of his nipples to see Inseong's eyes go wide. "I'm having trouble breathing and I'm sick." 

"I know," Inseong replied. "Isn't difficulty with breathing another sign of Coronavirus? We'd have to look into that. Don't say anything and just do what I say, and I'll let you sleep like a log afterwards." 

Youngbin covered his mouth as he laughed, releasing his self-consciousness over ruining the mood. Trusting that Inseong would fulfill his promise, he put his fingers where Inseong wanted to put them and stroked himself with the rhythm that Inseong set. When Inseong told him to take his hands off his cock and play with his hole, he groaned in protest, but obeyed anyway. 

"Yes, that's it. Give your body what it needs." 

Youngbin nodded and closed his eyes, pressing his finger a little harder against his hole. He looked at Inseong once more, pleading with his eyes for Inseong to let him come. 

"Touch your cock again. You must be so close...grab some tissue to catch all of it." 

Into a wad of tissue, Youngbin came. His fingers were smeared with some of his come as he lifted his hands. To thank Inseong for noticing that he was close, he made a show out of sucking and licking his fingers clean. 

Lying down beside his phone, Youngbin turned sideways and told Inseong, "That tastes salty, and my breathing is fine. I guess I don't have the virus." 

Inseong laughed. "Testing for it would take forever if the whole country did what we've done. Go put your clothes on and catch some sleep, okay? And dream about me." 

"So thinking about you while I'm awake is not enough, and I've got to do that while I'm asleep too?" 

"Well, we're done with you doing what I say, so you can not do that if you don't want to..." 

With an adorable soft sigh, Inseong let Youngbin know that he was displeased. 

Youngbin smiled and said, "I'm kidding. I want to see you in my dreams and in real life too." 

After they took turns to say that they loved each other, Inseong hung up. He breathed out and sank back against his seat, turning to the desktop behind him as he squeezed his thighs together to ease the tension between his legs. 

The desktop that he was facing was the one which Youngbin usually used for work. Inseong had stepped into the computer room because he missed Youngbin and had just called to check on Youngbin's health. Even if his call ended with him getting an inconvenient hard-on, he didn't regret taking care of Youngbin from a distance. 

He should move to the washroom to take care of himself. Before that, he opened and scrolled through the files that Youngbin had saved on the computer, looking over lyrics about falling and longing and re-reading lines that he would like to sing. 


	4. Lullu Lalla

As his phone vibrated with the arrival of a new message, Youngbin looked up from his computer. 

He had been writing lyrics all day. More precisely, he had dumped the line fragments and images floating in his head onto a digital document. Some images were translated into more poetic lines that he connected to one or more line fragment to form a chunk of the beginning of a rap or a verse. For the fragments he couldn't connect to anything, he moved them to the bottom of the page to transfer to a different document. 

His eyes had gone dry from staring at the computer screen for too long. While rubbing at them, he picked up his phone and found a message from Inseong with just one word in its preview: "Sunset".

Was Inseong writing lyrics too? Instead of lines for a song, he had composed a two-line poem. It was all that he had written in his message:

_Work then play_

_Secretly, the person loving you is me_

Youngbin chuckled as Inseong's words warmed his heart. Even when their schedules clashed and they couldn't see much of each other, there was no break in Inseong's flirting. 

Thinking about where Inseong found his inspiration, Youngbin left his computer room. There were no windows in the room that was as small as a cubicle and while working there, he couldn't tell apart night from day. He stopped in front of a wide window at the end of the hallway, standing in the orange glow of the setting sun. 

It was the same sunset that had affected Inseong. For a better view of its effect on the cityscape, Youngbin climbed the stairs to the rooftop. He threw open the door of the stairwell, walked a few steps and stopped when he saw a familiar back. 

He thought it was too poetic to find Inseong without them agreeing to meet first, but there Inseong was leaning against the metal railing. Inseong might have been there all along as he composed and sent his message for Youngbin. To let him know that he wasn't alone, Youngbin landed his footsteps a little more heavily as he went to Inseong's side. 

"Were you having a broadcast here?" He asked. 

"Yeah," Inseong replied without taking his eyes off the sky. "Our managers were here, but they've left. Can you repeat your entry with more skinship and affection?" 

"Sure."

After Youngbin went back to where he had stood, he strode forward to put his arms around Inseong's waist. He hugged Inseong from behind, delivering the skinship and affection that Inseong wanted. In his arms, Inseong hummed and leaned back against Youngbin's chest as if to soak up even more of Youngbin's love. 

Resting his chin on Inseong's shoulder, Youngbin let Inseong's comforting back heal his spirits. When the blue of the sky darkened by a shade, he separated himself to stand beside Inseong again. He had to let go of Inseong before he became too comfortable to do so even if someone else came by. 

"I like the poem you sent," Youngbin said. "You should try writing song lyrics." 

"Should I? But then I'll only write about you, who never writes about me." 

He gave Youngbin an exaggerated woeful pout to show that he wasn't really upset. 

Youngbin laughed and replied, "If I did, I can't make the lyrics too good. What if the lines about you are actually put in a song and go to the others during recordings?" 

"That's a good point," Inseong admitted. "I still wish that I inspire you in some way." 

"You do, when it comes to doing things like this." 

Youngbin placed his hand over Inseong's fingers that were curled around the metal railing. Inseong looked down and away from their hands, and when he looked back at Youngbin, he gave Youngbin a little smile. 

Youngbin spoke what came to his mind, "Your blush washes out the glow of the sunset." 

"It's a pity that would never make its way into a song," Inseong sighed. 

Youngbin agreed. 


	5. One Love

A remake was not always worse than the original. Since Youngbin wanted proof to see how much Inseong's acting had improved, Inseong would remake his old acting content with Youngbin as his acting partner. Youngbin had set his standards high, expecting Inseong to show him that he was on the path towards slow-motion kissing scenes and semi-nude shower scenes in television dramas. 

It was difficult to meet Youngbin's standards as Inseong's acting work was far from sensuous. But Inseong did his best, acting as the male lead opposite Youngbin who took the role played by their junior from Cherry Bullet. 

Pretending that they were sitting in the library instead of on the wooden floor of their practice room, Inseong said his line, "Hey, so when are you going to study?"

Like in the Dingo drama they were remaking, he reached out to ruffle Youngbin's hair. Youngbin pursed his lips as he half-shrunk from and half-leaned into Inseong's touch. He seemed smaller then, encouraging a protectiveness within Inseong that Inseong's character should be feeling. 

Youngbin might just be imitating Bora from the original video, but he struck Inseong's heart with that small bit of acting. Inseong tried to hide that he was impressed as _he_ should be the one impressing Youngbin. 

To step up his game, he played another Dingo drama on his phone and stopped at a part without his character. 

Showing the part to Youngbin, Inseong declared, "I'm going to play Youngkyunie's character." 

"Why?" Youngbin watched the part, laughed and turned back to Inseong. "Do you want to show your range as an actor?" 

"Yeah. And to prove that I can shake you up no matter what character I play." 

Inseong did an ad-lib then, tossing back his head and running his fingers through his hair. Since he didn't have--and never will have--Youngkyun's long hair in the drama, he knew he looked ridiculous. When he looked back at Youngbin, Youngbin was obviously trying to not let his laughter escape from the upturned corners of his mouth. 

Inseong replayed the video, pretending to be a soulful lyricist as he mouthed Youngkyun's line, "Those words you said to me, and I was like, like a roller coaster ride, you shake awake my sleeping emotions."

"What is it?" Youngbin-as-Bora-as-wallflower-schoolgirl asked. 

"I just thought of it after you said that." 

The ending of the part called for another pat on the female lead's head. Unlike his earlier 'big brotherly' pat, Inseong went for a restrained pat in the style of a 'cool city guy'. Youngbin changed what the heroine did too, accepting the pat without shrinking away as if stunned by the affectionate side of the aloof boy that she was with. 

How had Inseong ended up uncovering Youngbin's hidden acting talent? Their dance practice was going to begin soon and he had one last shot at impressing Youngbin. Tapping on his phone's screen, he showed Youngbin a part towards the end of the same drama in which his character and Youngkyun's character protected Bora's character from two bullies. 

"Which boy do you want to play?" Youngbin asked. 

"Both of them," Inseong replied. "You'll only need me to protect you." 

"Hmm..." Youngbin tapped on the screen to watch the next minute of the video. "But if there's just you, I won't have two boys fighting over me in the next part."

"As long as I'm around, that will never happen!" 

Throwing his arms around Youngbin, Inseong reminded Youngbin who he belonged to. 

They stopped playing around as someone arrived for practice. After Youngkyun walked through the door, he sat beside Youngbin to wait for the others and watch what was playing on Inseong's phone. 

Turning to Inseong, he asked, "Isn't this our drama with Bora?" 

"Yeah," Inseong said. "I'm remaking it with Youngbinnie to show the progress of my acting skills." 

"He did a good job playing your character," Youngbin added. 

"Oh, is that so? Then shall I play hyung's character?" Youngkyun asked Inseong. "And we can pretend to be in a love triangle with Youngbin-hyung." 

As Inseong groaned, both Youngbin and Youngkyun burst into laughter. Inseong could only shake his head as he laid out in his heart his limitations as an actor. There were many stories that he liked to act out, but a scenario in which his beloved might be happier with someone else was not one of them. 


	6. Like The Hands Held Tight

There was a scientific reason why Inseong was miserable in isolation even with just a sore throat. According to MBTI, he was an extrovert who needed to be around people like a plant needed sunlight. He had also gotten used to the business of his solo schedules and without them, he was a ball of restless energy in his room. 

Though his throat hurt, he checked up on Youngbin every day through video call. 

Clasping and unclasping his hands, he rasped, "We're like the hands that can't be held tight because of social distancing..." 

He took a sip of water from his bottle to sound less like a grandpa and continued, "If our Fantasies won't get worried, I'd record a message about Coronavirus prevention for them. What do you think?" 

"I think you should get some rest," Youngbin said. 

He believed that Inseong would get better very soon. Unlike when Youngbin was sick and Inseong was afraid that Youngbin's isolation would end with a swab test, Youngbin did not fear the worst. And indeed, water and medicine took effect in healing Inseong's throat. 

But Inseong still tossed and turned from missing Youngbin and the others. He let the other members crush him at mobile games when they were free, then tried to sleep the rest of the day away. Just like that, his days of isolation passed and he was once again free to step into the outside world. 

On his last day free of schedules, he was cleaning his room when the doorbell rang. 

"Youngbin-ah!" 

Without waiting for the door to be fully shut, Youngbin rested his hand on Inseong's waist and pressed their lips together. Inseong was unprepared for the treat of Youngbin's lack of shyness in tilting his head up to make up for their height difference, but he managed to move his lips against Youngbin's mouth and sweep his arm down Youngbin's back. 

Pulling away, Youngbin said, "I can do that, right?" 

Inseong laughed. "Why are you asking that when you've already done it?" 

He took Youngbin's hand to lead Youngbin out of the common area and into his room. Inside, the bed was stripped of the bedding that he had dumped into the washing machine at the start of his cleaning spree. After sitting cross-legged on the floor, he pulled at Youngbin's hand to get Youngbin to sit with him. 

"I've been cleaning up. I swept and even mopped," Inseong said. "I'm hardly around here, but I've shed a lot of hair." 

"Is that so?" 

As Inseong had missed nearly a week's worth of appointments at the beauty salon, his hair had gone dry. Youngbin reached up to run his fingers through the stiff strands and brought his hand down the side of Inseong's neck, adding, "I've missed seeing you up close." 

"Me too..." 

Inseong was about to kiss Youngbin again, but he stopped to say, "You should have said that when you called." 

"Yeah, I should have," Youngbin said. "But I find that whenever I say that I miss you, I'll miss you even more." 

He looked over Inseong's shoulder at the bed and asked, "Shall I help you change the sheets? Do you have a spare set?" 

"I do, but that can wait." 

Linking their fingers, Inseong said, "First, show me how much you miss me." 

He felt like he was being filled with light as Youngbin kissed him, smiling against his mouth, and lowered him down on the floor. But he pretended to push instead of pull in barely kissing Youngbin back, though he kept his hand on Youngbin's waist to keep him close. While alone and thinking more than he usually did, he resolved to be a little more 'cool', and less 'needy' and 'easy', to better draw out Youngbin's desperation for him. 

He kept up his challenge for himself, not backing down even as Youngbin kissed him harder and slipped his fingers under the hem of Inseong's shirt. As Youngbin skimmed his fingers over Inseong's stomach, Inseong resisted the urge to arch his body closer to Youngbin and reveal how starved he was for Youngbin's touch. He had to be a little more patient until Youngbin showed that he felt the same, which Inseong knew Youngbin did. 

After letting out a soft sigh, Youngbin said, "Oh, Inseongie, your lips..." 

When he leaned in for another kiss, Inseong turned his head away. 

"Finish that sentence," he demanded. 

"Your lips are dry. Do you not use your lip balm when you don't have schedules?" 

"You..." 

Youngbin's playful smile told all. He had sensed that Inseong was waiting to be fed a romantic line, but gave Inseong the opposite. For that, Inseong narrowed his eyes and dug his fingers into Youngbin's side, refusing to back off even as Youngbin yelped and squirmed. 

"Oh, I shouldn't have said that! Don't get mad!" 

As Youngbin continued squirming, he put his arm around Inseong and his forehead to Inseong's shoulder, whimpering like he was small and helpless. Inseong softened and stopped prodding at once to lightly caress Youngbin's side. Even without Youngbin totally surrendering to him, he had gotten his fill of Youngbin's desperation. 

Raising his head, Youngbin looked at Inseong and repeated, "I shouldn't have said that." 

"It's okay." 

With a smile, Inseong gave Youngbin one more kiss and traced his thumb over Youngbin's cheekbone as he drew back. 

"Let's get up before we ache all over," Inseong said. 

After getting to his feet, he offered his hand to pull Youngbin up from the floor. He only let go of Youngbin so he could fetch his spare bedsheets. Together, they fitted the mattress of his bed with the clean sheets, which was a task that was much easier with two sets of hands. To share another day of domesticity with Youngbin, Inseong supposed that they would need a few more years into their career before they could take a trip all on their own. 

While he straightened the corners of his covers, Youngbin stuffed his bare pillow into its case. Once Youngbin was done, he went around to Inseong and hugged Inseong around the waist again. 

Leaning close to Inseong and opening his eyes wide, he said, "I missed seeing your bare face and all your pores without the Wifi connection blurring your handsomeness." 

"That's...That's what you should have said!" 

Youngbin furrowed his brows as if he was brainstorming on what else to say to please Inseong. Because he looked cute just doing that, Inseong brought their lips together to clear both their heads of thoughts. At once, he stopped denying his own desperation for Youngbin--just Youngbin, drawing close to him. 


	7. Fire

Straight from the office building, Sanghyuk and Inseong took their drunk leader back to the dorm. Sanghyuk looked out for reporters from Dispatch who often lied in wait with their cameras, hoping to catch idols on their bad behaviour. He doubted that the threat of catching Coronavirus would discourage them from hunting for their scoop. 

Dispatch would have a field day with the way Youngbin clung to Inseong. While the both of them worked with Sanghyuk on planning their SFgends content, Youngbin managed to keep his skinship with Inseong in check, or share some with Sanghyuk. But after finishing a whole bottle of wine during their shoot, he let out his clinginess in full force and whined that he had to be separated from Inseong once their manager parked their van. 

Of course, Inseong stepped up, offering his back for Youngbin to climb onto. As he gave Youngbin a piggyback ride, Sanghyuk led the way to the unit where Youngbin and the others lived. He checked for a telltale camera flash behind the other vehicles in the carpark, feeling faintly ridiculous as a small voice in his head told him that he and his members were not _that_ famous. But they were, and if their fans saw Youngbin being too drunk to walk, the company might have to spoil the content of their shoot to prove that Youngbin had not drank too much at a bar or another public place. 

Sanghyuk thought Youngbin had fallen asleep, but when he stole a glance at Youngbin, he found Youngbin kissing Inseong's ear. He turned away, unsure if he wanted to scream or sigh more, or check whether Youngbin was actually nibbling on Inseong. 

He tugged on the sleeve of Inseong's sweater and asked, "Shouldn't you stop him from being too handsy?" 

"Oh, he probably thinks I'm a marshmallow," Inseong replied. "Since I'm the only one older than him among us, he likes being a baby around me. Haven't you noticed?" 

Sanghyuk shook his head, not because he hadn't noticed how Youngbin treated Inseong as a hyung, but to disagree that it was the reason behind Youngbin's clinginess. The alcohol had most likely caused the fire inside Youngbin to burn brighter until it razed his guardedness over his attachment to Inseong. 

When they reached the entrance of the dorm, Inseong punched in the keycode. He practically lived there, while Sanghyuk could not remember when he had last dropped by after moving into the second smaller dorm. 

As Inseong unlocked the door, the security system played a short melody that signaled their arrival. The lights were off and after Sanghyuk groped for the switch, they treaded softly down the hallway to the room that Youngbin shared with Jaeyoon. 

They had to wake Jaeyoon up, but Jaeyoon didn't mind. His sleep was already interrupted when he received Sanghyuk's latest message in their group chat about the details of their SFgends shoot. 

As Inseong laid Youngbin down, Jaeyoon told Sanghyuk, "If I knew using alcohol was allowed, I'd have mixed some into my lemonade. Was your content funny in the end?" 

"It is, and the funny continues." 

They turned towards Youngbin's bed, where Inseong had also lied down with both of Youngbin's arms around his waist and Youngbin's fingers laced over his stomach. 

"Hyung," Sanghyuk said. "I think you should just sleep over." 

"Sanghyuk-ah, don't go anywhere. I'll get up in a moment. But carrying Youngbinie is more tiring than I thought, and I need some rest..." 

"Yes, get some rest, hyung," Jaeyoon said as he stepped out of the room with Sanghyuk, giving permission for Inseong to stop lying about wanting to stay. 

Shutting the door on Inseong spluttering another excuse on why he wasn't wriggling free from Youngbin's hold, they headed to the kitchen. They each drank a can of beer and as Sanghyuk sipped on his drink, he thought about sharing what was on his mind: his fear and desire over trading in his dignity for love. 


	8. Stop It Now

Being around Youngbin was bad for Youngkyun's writing mood. While Youngbin scribbled in his notebook for lyrics, he smiled and chuckled at whatever he was listening to with his earphones. Youngkyun couldn't focus on his own writing and when he looked around him, the people going in and out of the office building's rest area were not very inspiring. 

As usual, he was at work on a song with a melancholic tone. He was sick of being holed up in the computer room and wanted a change, but perhaps being alone was better for his creativity. 

As he capped his pen and closed his notebook, Youngbin looked up at him. 

"Where are you going?" Youngbin asked. "You've barely written anything." 

"Exactly. I can't be around you, hyung, you're too happy." 

"What's wrong with that? Listen to this and you'll be happy too." 

Out of curiosity, Youngkyun took the bud that Youngbin offered and inserted it into his ear. At first, he thought Youngbin was playing an unfamiliar song, but it turned out to be a recording of a man's rapping. Whoever that was, he seemed to have a sore throat as the rasp in his voice sounded too genuine to be an affectation. Also, after he tried to speed up his rap, his attempt broke down into a fit of coughs. 

Youngkyun listened for a while longer to gather more clues on the owner of the voice. "Did you make Inseong-hyung rap for you?" 

"Yeah, that's him," Youngbin replied. "But I didn't ask him to rap. While recovering from his sore throat, he recorded a demo of my lyrics for fun. Do you think his rapping has improved?" 

"I don't really know." 

After removing Youngbin's earbud and setting it down on the table, Youngkyun said, "I can't get into the mood of my song here. Your happiness is just too much, but I can't blame you since the person you like performed your work just for you." 

"Wait, no, this isn't just for me." 

Youngbin switched off the recording on his phone and removed his other earbud, getting ready to talk straight to Youngkyun. As Youngkyun tried to understand why Youngbin had gotten serious, he realised too late that he had set off Youngbin's self-consciousness over sealing himself and Inseong into a little world that excluded the other members. 

"It's not like I have a monopoly over Inseong's voice," Youngbin insisted. "You can ask him to record a demo for you too." 

Youngkyun was not against Youngbin monopolizing Inseong's singing outside of official recordings. But he didn't tell Youngbin that, in case Youngbin became even more self-conscious about his special relationship with Inseong. 

Instead, Youngkyun flipped through his lyrics notebook and said, "I am thinking of including some parts with high notes, like this one." 

He pointed to a couple of lines and sang it with the music in his head, going for a mix of Taeyang and Inseong's singing styles. Unlike his cool approach to rapping, trying to wrench someone's soul with his voice didn't come naturally to him. 

Youngbin seemed to think so too as he said, "Maybe you should try it like this." 

But his rapper-like singing also failed to meet the mark. They tried again and again to do justice to Youngkyun's lyric, arguing over the nuances in each other's version until they had to call a mediator. 

As Inseong happened to be in a queue for coffee, he was free to entertain them over the phone. 

"You're practicing singing high notes?" He asked. "If one of you is going to sing, does that mean I can take over as a rapper for our next release?" 

"We'll have to get the CEO's approval for that," Youngbin said. "For now, listen to this." 

His voice cracked at his next attempt at soulful singing and he had to turn away to clear his throat behind his cupped hands. Since they were just playing around, it was harmless to laugh and Inseong laughed first. Youngkyun chuckled along and as his chest rose and fell, he let the moment of happiness sweep the melancholic tune in his head towards the back of his mind. 


	9. Dance With Us

Changing hair colour took half a day, but could define the next three months. In his seat at the salon, Youngbin tried to ignore the stinging smell of the chemicals around him and his shoulder stiffness from sitting for hours as he planned where and when he would take the selfies with his new hair. He was switching back to the red hair that he had early in the previous year so he would not be presenting a whole new look, but he would bet that he would please more than a handful of fans. 

Inseong too, was getting a new hair colour. His scalp had worsened at the same rate as Youngbin's, and also like Youngbin, he was going to return to a hair colour that he had before. 

It was still a surprise when Youngbin saw him at their next dance practice. Back in their rookie days, Inseong had kept his hair black and returning to the same colour brought out his youthfulness. But he had a different vibe to the Inseong that Youngbin knew two years ago, as Inseong gained the self-possessed aura of someone used to being seen. 

Looking into Inseong's eyes, Youngbin tried to see how he had also become different. 

As they sat together on the floor of the practice room, Inseong rubbed strands of Youngbin's red hair between his fingers and said, "You've got this straightened too, right? How can your hair and scalp take so much?" 

"With all that it's been through, it's probably the toughest part of me." 

After letting go of Youngbin's hair, Inseong flattened it with his palm and gave Youngbin's head a few extra pets. "I don't see what's wrong with your natural curls. You look adorable with them, so why don't you keep them for an entire promotion?" 

"I don't think many will like it," Youngbin said.

It would take too long to explain his complex over his curly hair, so he volleyed one of Inseong's own complexes. "I'll show my curly hair during the whole promotion if you also show your entire forehead." 

"What?" After Inseong pushed his fringe up and held it down against the top of his head, he asked, "Like this? You like this?" 

"I like your forehead a lot." Youngbin gave him a nod and a little smile. "And you did promise our Fantasies that you'll slick back your hair and get the Joker hairstyle for them." 

"Ah, that...That'd be too scary..." 

Youngbin, along with the other members and long-time fans, knew that Inseong would lie again. But he pretended to headbutt Inseong anyway, holding onto Inseong's shoulder for balance as he got on his knees and gently knocked their foreheads together. 

"How could you let our fans down like that?" He also pretended to scold Inseong. "Right when times are bad and we can't see them." 

"I'm sorry," Inseong said, releasing his fringe to squeeze Youngbin's hand. "I'll never do it again. But your Mamma Mia aegyo more than made up for my mistake." 

Youngbin drew away with a sigh. Unlike Inseong, he had kept his promise for their fans. "That aegyo is way scarier than Joker." 

Inseong shook his head in an exaggerated way and pouted as if he was showing Youngbin his aegyo. Youngbin laughed, and wanted badly to kiss both Inseong's cheeks and plush lips, but he might not want to stop when their practice began. 

Instead, he settled for squeezing Inseong's hand and said, "Come over to the dorm when you can, okay?" 

He didn't have to tell Inseong to do what Inseong liked to. Still, he wanted to give Inseong an invitation to come home to him. Inseong answered with an affectionate squeeze around Youngbin's fingers, letting Youngbin know that he had heard Youngbin loud and clear. 

"You know I will," Inseong said. 


	10. Beautiful Light

All their songs were beautiful, but their latest fansong especially deserved the word 'beautiful' in its title. That was what Inseong thought even as the song reminded him of a part of his life which he never wanted to return to. 

The bittersweet memory returned with a Youtube recommendation of an old fancam. Inseong was supposed to sit out their concert and when he appeared on stage, he had surprised everyone--the fans, the staff and even his other members. In the present, he had forgotten the pain of his injury, but as he watched the video, he had to remind himself that it didn't hurt anymore to take deep breaths. 

The camera had picked up everything he said and the words of his letter which Taeyang read out. As English subtitles were added to the video, his message managed to reach the hearts of international fans. They joined the other Fantasies to both cry over and cheer on Inseong and his beloved members with their comments, acting as guiding lights through the darkness. 

Once he finished that video, Youtube presented more fancams from that same stage. He went through each of them and saved the one which focused on Youngbin. It could also be counted as his fancam since back then, Youngbin had remained by his side until the end of the song. 

Only months later, Inseong remembered that he had intended to look for this fancam. He had forgotten why as he had busied himself with recovering his health, coming up with gags for his hosting gig and regaining his ability to dance. He seldom poked at the painful moments in his past, so he discarded the idea that he wanted to have a good cry over what Youngbin had done for him. 

He could rewatch his and Youngbin's joint fancam without shedding warm tears. There rose a heaviness in his heart, but it was bearable. When it faded away, he recalled one specific detail from his memory: a lock of Youngbin's hair brushing against his cheek as he whispered in Youngbin's ear. 

Perhaps he had wanted to view this particular fancam for Youngbin's resurfacing curls. Youngbin usually couldn't wait to straighten them out, but for their concert, he had let them be. On that stage, Inseong was too sad to admire Youngbin's natural hair and too overwhelmed as he drowned in the love he received from Youngbin, their dongsaengs and their fans. 

Looking back, Inseong thought his hair didn't look bad too. It was a miracle since he had to keep his trips to the salon short and could not sit upright for long to touch up his roots. After he paused the fancam, he brought his screen closer to his face, pursing his lips as he blew a kiss for his and Youngbin's past selves. 

**Author's Note:**

> We've reached the era of the first win! And also the age of social distancing.
> 
> As SF9 celebrates their fourth anniversary, I celebrate my first year as a Fantasy. For this past year, I've written 100,000 words in total for BinSeong. Go BinSeong nation!
> 
> My notes and references for this fic:
> 
> Chapter 1: Here's [the rose boxers](https://twitter.com/sf9gagman/status/1227314927624429579) that Inseong and Seokwoo received for attending the CK event in New York.
> 
> Chapter 4: I wrote the 2-line poem with the help of GoogleTranslate-Seonsaengnim. The original Korean version with the English translation below:
> 
> 일몰  
> Sunset
> 
> 일하고 놀다  
> Work then play  
> 몰래 널 사랑하는 사람은 나야  
> Secretly, the person loving you is me
> 
> Chapter 5: Here are the two Dingo dramas that Inseong has appeared in ([1](https://youtu.be/YcR1-BQ6wHE?t=51),[2](https://youtu.be/LQsIUH8lWkg)).
> 
> Chapter 6: For their MBTI, Youngbin is an ISFP and Inseong is an ENFJ. 
> 
> Chapter 7: Inseong said it himself in his comment for [YoungInDa's SFgends content](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NUWAg1Rqu74): "But it was fun filming this program. And Youngbin was really drunk!!!"
> 
> Chapter 9: Inseong may have forgotten his promise about the joker hair ([21:47](https://youtu.be/s3rWXrAlSME?t=1307)), but we haven't.
> 
> Chapter 10: Here are the fancam of [Inseong's letter for Fantasies](https://youtu.be/PAgeEoAnbmw) and [BinSeong's "Beautiful Light" fancam](https://youtu.be/yn7VFw3w3PI).
> 
> My BinSeong fan account: [@guava_otp93](https://twitter.com/guava_otp93)


End file.
